Tis the season for much joy, family, and holiday shopping, but also that of butter and sugar, that’s for certain. Although for some of us that sugar-filled season is all year round. But since gingerbread is the quintessential holiday baked good, I have a special place in my heart for it. And, believe it or not, it’s one of the only things I bake that both my kids love to eat. And of course they have heaps of fun decorating them. I think we all do! I think it’s because it really doesn’t take much to transform a cut-out gingerbread person into a delightful little rosy-cheeked man with a face almost too sweet to bite. Just like that they come to life–hello!. Aaand then we eat’em all up–goodbye.

Aside from being super-cute and lovable to look at, what do you think makes the “perfect” gingerbread cookie recipe? For me it’s a combination of things–very important things. First, the texture of the cookie needs to be fairly crispy along the outside with a semi-soft, cake-like inside, and like all “perfect” cut-out cookies, they definitely need to keep their shape when baked.

Secondly, they must taste sweet but notably spicy, and have a rich molasses flavour. Essentially they *must* taste like Christmas.

And while I think that there are many wonderful gingerbread recipes out there (including the recipe I often used and shared for the Jumbo Gingerbread Folk whom I continue to love and adore), I’ve found this variation to be one of favourites. I’ve made them with both “cooking molasses,” which lends to a robust, dark cookie (as shown in these photos), and with a much milder “fancy molasses,” as shown in the photos below with my cakelets. Both are delightful, and of course it’s personal preference on the intensity of the molasses flavour in your cookie. I just happen to love both the taste and the dark colour the cooking molasses lends.

Of course this gingerbread tastes just as amazing baked up as gingerbread houses, stars, unicorns, or anything else you or your cakelets feel inclined to create, but my heart belongs to the classic gingerbread boys. Kind of hard not to smile when you see them, which of course makes them perfect for sharing and gifting.

We’ve had many a gingerbread baking and decorating party here, and will squeeze a few more in before this season ends because it’s one of those things that genuinely makes my cakelets happy and perfectly content. I often bake several batches and freeze them undecorated, so that when the urge strikes we can pop a few out of the freezer and get our decorating fix. It works really well for rainy days and other times the kids get bored (other types of cutout cookies also work well!).

Spicy, semi-soft gingerbread cookies with a slightly crispy edge, that keep their shapes perfectly when baked.

Ingredients

6 1/2 cups (815 g) all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups (283 g) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup (220 g) light brown sugar

2 eggs

2/3 cup (220 g) cooking molasses

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Instructions

In large bowl, sift together flour, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and brown sugar on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping sides of bowl between additions. Add molasses and vanilla and beat until completely incorporated.

Reduce mixer speed to low and add flour mixture until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds. Dough should be soft (not dry or crumbly) but not sticky. If sticky, add a few tablespoons of flour until desired consistency is achieved.

Divide the dough in 2, place each half on a large piece of plastic wrap, press down with the palm of your hand and make a disc about 2" thick. Finish wrapping the disc with the plastic wrap. Chill the discs of dough for at least 2 hours.

Remove one disc and remove plastic wrap. Place on top of a large piece of lightly floured parchment or wax paper (I use a silicone rolling mat underneath to ensure it doesn't slip while rolling, but you can even dampen counter so the parchment sticks a bit.), then place two 1/4" wooden dowels on either side of your dough, then another sheet of parchment paper.

Roll dough (this will require a bit of elbow grease for the first few minutes until it softens up a bit) so it's flush with dowels--they will ensure that your dough is even thickness.

Slide your parchment paper and dough onto a board, then place in refrigerator for about 30 minutes, or freezer for 15 minutes (or more).

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line two or three baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment. Remove the rolled dough from fridge, and cut your shapes using the cutters or template of choice, placing them on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the edges just start to brown, about 8 minutes for medium cookies, and 10 minutes for larger cookies (such as those in the photos).Be careful not to over-bake, or cookies will be dry. Collect remaining dough and re-roll once, repeating cutting and baking steps. Dough rolled out more than once will be a little tough, so it's best to keep it to a 2-time roll-out maximum.

Cool sheets on wire racks for 20 minutes, then gently remove cookies and place on wire racks to finish cooling. If cookies are too fragile, you can cool completely on trays.

Use Royal Icing to decorate your heart out, and have fun with the cookie decorating! Let cakelets use pretty much any kind of candy and have fun experimenting with different “outfits” for the gingerbread folk–candies, licorice, sprinkles, chocolate chips, and more.

(to enlarge image, click it, click the zoom magnifier and then the slide bar to enlarge)

Happy Holidays, cute-stuff-loving friends!

For the past few weeks I’ve been doing oodles of store browsing, both online and otherwise, and suffice it to say there are so many freakin’ cute things out there! Holy fluff. Like most people, I absolutely love buying things for others–it just feels good. But this year, more than ever before, I’m finding it hard to resist sneaking in little things for you know who in between all of my gift-buying.

So as a baker and lover of all things pretty and pastel, I can tell you that if you are trying to find something unique and memorable for someone who loves to bake, this year might be a good time to opt for something irresistible, over something practical–something that will bring a huge dose of happy to your peeps.

So I’ve created this collection of some of my favourite gifts to give fellow bakers, and because you guys are THE best baking friends in the universe, I’m giving 1 lucky winner EVERYTHING shown in the above gift guide! Hooray!

2. KitchenAid Pink Classic Mixing Bowls: These lightweight, nesting mixing bowls are the perfect sizes, have convenient spouts, and a rubber grip bottom. Oh, and I think it’s been scientifically proven that all things made in pink bowls taste better.

3. Stainless Steel Heart Measuring Spoons: I’ve been using these exact spoons for a few years, and while my drawer is full of measuring spoons, I always grab these first. While most bakers already have measuring spoons, they likely find they need a few sets on the go.

4. Jessie Steele Bubbly Celebration Apron: Chances are your baker friend already has a few aprons, but getting a crisp new, stylish apron is much like fun pajamas–we can never have too many yet we find it hard to splurge on them.

5. Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 Instant Film Camera (shown in blue, but they also come in pastel yellow, pink, white): Chances are, if a baker bakes, he/she also loves to snap photos of their goodies. These frosting-coloured instant cameras are always the life of the party.

♥ ♥ ♥

6. Glitterville Vintage Style Tin Birthday Cake Carrier: Anything adorned with the words “Everything is better with cake and frosting!” is a pretty much a go, and the adorable colours, stripes, scallops, and vintage vibe of this cake tin don’t hurt either. We all love cake stands, but I find a lot of us don’t actually have a cake carrier for transporting our cakes. This also looks beyond charming atop the counter.

7. Frosted Cupcake Glass Ornaments: Dessert-themed ornaments, especially the frosty old world variety, make the loveliest of gifts and won’t break the bank. Who doesn’t want to celebrate their love for baking upon their holiday tree?

8. Surprise-Inside Cakes by Amanda Rettke: This unique cookbook by Amanda from I am Baker is visually stunning and teaches readers, step-by-step, how to wow a crowd with her signature surprise-inside cakes. Baking books forever and ever. Amen.

11. Mega (3.4 lb) Jar of Sprinkles: Pretty sure I don’t need to tell you why getting a huge (3.4 lb) jar of sprinkles would rock someone’s world. You might even witness some tears of joy.

12. Nesting Heart Cutter Set: Cookie cutters are always a thoughtful and inspiring gift, but cookie cutter sets are super fun and functional. And just think of how many cookies will be born because of you.

13. PJ Salvage Cookies & Milk Flannel PJ Set: Jammies to the stars! Dare you not to smile when you see happy cookies and milk staring up at you. Giving someone new pyjamas is like giving them a new lease on life, and these are just freaking adorable.

14. Philosophy Pink Marshmallow Buttercream Shower Gel: I love Philosophy anything, and they do dessert bath products up right. I almost fainted when I saw this Pink Marshmallow Buttercream collection, and I can’t think of a better way to say I love you than with pink, frosting-scented shower gel.

17. Whitbread Wilkinson Pantone Coffee Maker: This colour–oh, this colour. Perfect for the coffee enthusiast who wants to brew their own espresso stovetop. It’s also perfect for brewing espresso for the baked good recipes that call for such. Truth be told, I’d be happy just keeping it out to relish in its loveliness.

19. Cupcake Yummy Pillow: This entire collection of “yummy” pillows is pretty crazy cute, but my heart belongs to this one. It’s *almost* too realistic–you literally want to take a bite. A definite conversation piece! We have this one, and my cakelets can’t get over it.

Another party cake? Absolutely. So what makes a cake a party cake exactly? Well, technically I think any layer cake could be considered a party cake, but maybe it’s the presence of sprinkles that warrants the name? Must be. Must be the sprinkles. Or maybe it’s the glossy swirls of frosting. Or in this case, the heaps of Belgian milk and dark chocolate transformed into a chocoholic’s dream. Come to think of it, I don’t think you need a party to enjoy a party cake.

Either way, this cake is party-ready and really all about the chocolate. We fill and frost three layers of decadent dark chocolate butter cake with the swirls of one of the most glorious chocolate fudge frostings I’ve ever tasted and let the chocolate shine.

What I love about this frosting, aside from how quick and easy it is to make, is that it really isn’t very sweet–think more fudgey and decadent–since premium chocolate is the main ingredient. I add a dollop of sour cream to add a creamy richness, and only a small bit of confectioners’ sugar to balance out the chocolate. We use mostly milk chocolate this time, though, as opposed to my much-loved dark chocolate frostings (like this intense and wonderful glossy dark chocolate frosting), which results in a dessert simple enough to please cakelets aplenty and decadent enough to please adults alike.

The cake itself if a version of this moist dark chocolate cake made with butter, dark cocoa powder, and a hit of mayonnaise for moisture, among other cakey ingredients. It takes a few moments to make than our beloved one-bowl chocolate cake recipes, but has a richness only butter can bring to the table. Smother it all in this chocolate lovers’ dreamy frosting and a medley of happy-happy sprinkles, and it’s definitely a party.

Yes, it’s official–it’s a party! And here’s a little random side-note: I cannot stop buying vintage birthday candles. Between ebay, etsy, and junk store shopping, I’m always on the lookout and each one is such a treasure. My collection is growing and just looking at these quirky little boxes makes me happy. As does this cake. So, let’s make this cake!

Decadent chocolate butter cake filled and frosted with a rich, creamy and not-so-sweet chocolate fudge frosting and topped with a medley of sprinkles.

Ingredients

For the Chocolate Cake Layers:

1 1/2 sticks (170 g) unsalted butter, softened

1 3/4 cups (450 g) packed light brown sugar

2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract

3 eggs, at room temperature

1 3/4 cups (220 g) all-purpose flour

3/4 cup (90 g) Dutch-process dark cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/3 cups (320 ml) buttermilk, room temperature

1/4 cup (60 ml) mayonnaise

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons (10 ml) white vinegar

For the Chocolate Fudge Frosting:

1 1/2 cups (340 g) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup (60 g) confectioners' sugar, sifted

1/2 cup (60 g) dark cocoa powder, sifted

1/3 cup (80 ml) hot water

1/4 cup (60 ml) sour cream

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

10 ounces (290 g) milk chocolate, chopped, melted and cooled slightly

5 ounces (150 g) dark chocolate, chopped, melted and cooled slightly

Sprinkle medley, for decorating (see Sweetapolita's Notes)

Instructions

For the Chocolate Butter Cake Layers:

Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray three 8-inch round cake pans with cooking spray and line with parchment rounds.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar and vanilla on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 7 minutes. Lower the speed to medium and add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until each is fully incorporated before adding the next.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl.

Alternate dry ingredients and the buttermilk into creamed mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix until just incorporated, then fold mayonnaise into batter with a whisk, until just blended. In a small bowl, combine the vinegar and baking soda (it will foam) and quickly add to batter, mixing until just combined.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. If possible, weigh the batter in each cake pan for 450 g each (excluding the pans--you will want to tare the scale each time.) Smooth the batter with small offset palette knife, and bake the first 2 layers until a toothpick or skewer comes out clean, about 25 minutes (don't over-bake). Let pans cool on wire rack for 20 minutes, then invert cakes onto racks, gently, peeling away parchment rounds. Repeat with the final layer. Let cool completely.

For the Chocolate Fudge Frosting:

In a bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 6 minutes. Reduce to speed to low, and add the confectioners' sugar, cocoa powder, water, sour cream, vanilla, and salt and beat until incorporated, about 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 more minutes.

Add the melted chocolate and beat on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute.

Assembly of the Double Chocolate Party Cake:

Put your first layer top-up on the cake board or plate, and spread about 1 cup of frosting evenly across layer. Put the second cake layer on top and repeat with another layer of frosting. Put the final cake layer top-down. Cover the cake with plastic wrap and wiggle the layers into place, if necessary. Refrigerate the cake until firm, about 30 minutes.

Remove the cake from the refrigerator and place on a turntable, if using. Frost entire outside of cake with a thin layer of frosting to seal in the crumbs. Chill until the frosting begins to firm-up, about 15 minutes. Use the remaining frosting to create a textured finish by spreading with a medium palette knife.

Cover the perimeter of the cake with a medley of sprinkles (see Sweetapolita's Notes) and serve. The cake will keep at room temperature for up to 2 days, refrigerated for up to 3 days. Best enjoyed at room temperature.

For the chocolate cake I used, yep–you guessed it–Cacao Barry Extra Brute cocoa powder. I keep this stuff on hand at all times and use it for everything from brownies to hot chocolate. Completely decadent and completely worth it.

Hello from the land of happy, happy cupcake cookies! Dare you not to smile.

Yes, it’s cookie o’clock around my house right now. I think, of course, it has something to do with the season, and with two little cakelets (who are suddenly not so little!) who love to decorate and gift such tasty and colourful things.

We’re about to dive into more traditionally seasonal gingerbread cookies and such, but before we get too into holiday-baking, we made a batch of these little guys to make us, and those around us, smile. And they really do the trick–smiles aplenty.

Inspired by a package of candy eyeballs that have been staring at me every time I open my sprinkle cupboard, I thought it would be fun to create little pastel confection friends to share. Starting with a half-batch of The Perfect Dark Chocolate Sugar Cookies, which I have to admit get better every time I taste them while keeping their shape like a dream, we added some pastel Royal Icing in a cakey colour scheme and topped them with the obligatory (for good reason) sprinkles and then quirky and lovable faces. Then we gobbled them up with no shame. Oops.

Sometimes decorating with royal icing is rather intimidating if you’ve not done it before, or often, but when you go slowly and thoughtfully, I find it rather therapeutic. For many “patterns” or shapes it’s helpful to draw directly onto the cookie with a food marker (as the first cookie above shows) and then pipe your icing directly over the lines. This really helps!

This type of cookie decorating is also one of those things that makes you feel incredibly proud when you see how lovely the finished product is–the porcelain finish of royal icing gives cookies such a fancy feel, even though it’s simple to do. It can also be used for simple embellishments, as we did with the Jumbo Gingerbread Folk. It adds just enough sweetness to balance an otherwise intense cookie, such as gingerbread or these dark chocolate sugar cookies.

I love designs like this because it’s impossible to not smile when you look at them–perfect for giving to kids and grown ups alike. I can promise you that if you make a batch of these happy little folk, you will feel the love.

1/2 teaspoon extract of your choice (nothing oil-based, and if you want pure white icing, you will want to use clear extract)

AmeriColor gel paste color in Turquoise and Soft Pink

For Decorating:

Sprinkles (small confetti quin sprinkles and white nonpareils)

Large heart sprinkles

Candy eyes (about 40 total)

Food Marker in black

You will also need:

2 medium pastry bags

2 standard couplers

2 small plain round pastry tips (I use #3)

Toothpicks

Instructions

Bake the cookies:

Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats (I like Silpat) or parchment paper. Roll out the dark chocolate cookie dough according to the recipe here. Cut out the cupcake cookies using a medium-sized cupcake cutter and transfer to the baking sheets. Freeze the cookies on the baking sheets for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and bake the cookies until edges are just crisp, about 17 minutes.

For the Royal Icing:

Use a paper towel to wipe the bowl of an electric mixer and a rubber spatula with a few drops of lemon juice. Add all of the ingredients into the bowl and fit the mixer with the paddle attachment.

Mix ingredients on low-speed for 12 minutes.

Stir in small increments (1 teaspoon at a time) of water until you reach a "10-second" consistency (thank you Marian at Sweetopia for this!), which means when you run the tip of a knife through the icing, the line disappears in 10-seconds. This will result in an ideal consistency for outlining and filling the cookies.

Keep royal icing covered with plastic wrap at all times. Store with a damp cloth and plate (same diameter as top of bowl) on top in bowl in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Tint about one-third of the icing turquoise using a tiny dab of gel paste colour. Fit a pastry bag with a coupler and pastry tip and fill the bag two-thirds full with the turquoise icing and secure the bag with a rubber band. Keep the tip tucked into a damp cloth when not in use. Repeat with the remaining icing, this time tinting it pastel pink.

Decorate the cookies:

Using the turquoise icing, outline and outline and fill the "cupcake liner" portion of the cookies. Gently shake the cookie from side to side to even out the icing and use a toothpick to gently connect icing over any missing spots. Let dry for at least an hour.

Using the black food pen, draw the outlines for the frosting swirls (see photo) as a guide. Using the pink icing, pipe along these black lines on all of the cookies. Go back to the first cookie piped and fill in these lines and sprinkle with confetti quin and nonpareil sprinkles. Repeat with the remaining cookies.

Carefully adhere the candy eyes and cheeks (larger quin sprinkles) using a tiny tab of royal icing Draw the mouths on with the black food marker. Once the pink portion of the cookies are dry, finish by adhering a heart sprinkle to the top of each cookie.

Let dry for at least 12 hours before packaging. Keep dry decorated cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

While spiced lattes, pumpkin layer cakes, and cozy sweaters are some of the best reasons to say goodbye to summer with a smile, diving into brand new fall-release cookbooks just might be the best of one all.

One of the books I am super-excited about is Jessica Merchant’s first book called Seriously Delish: 150 Recipes for People Who Totally Love Food. Amazing. True, I expected it to be, but I don’t know . . . there’s something extra special about this book when you hold it in your hands. Of course, the first thing to jump out at me was how incredible her photographs are–stunning yet real (much like Jessica herself).

But more than just incredible food photography, Seriously Delish is filled with enticing-but-approachable recipes you want to make over and over again. There are gorgeous cookbooks sitting in my collection, and just knowing they sit in my house is comforting, but Jessica’s book is the kind of book that ends up with tattered pages and chocolate smudges. Much like on her blog, How Sweet Eats, the book is laced with Jessica’s unique humour and warmth, which just makes the whole awesome-food-and-photography thing that much better.

And while this girl knows her way around sugar and butter like crazy, the book also offers homey-but-innovative salads, healthy (and not so healthy) snacks, sandwiches, breakfast (for dinner), pizza, burgers, and so much more. The recipes are notably diverse (imagine parmesan-pistachio kale chips only pages away from fleur de sel caramel bourbon brownie milk shakes), which celebrates Jessica’s distinct recipe style.

So, as you can probably guess, I hit the “Celebrations (for times when calories don’t count)” chapter first thing, which is when I came across the recipe for these Chocolate & Peanut Butter Lover’s Brownies. Needless to say I was sold.

While brownies are likely one of the most-baked treats from book sand blogs alike, these are in a class of their own. Who knew that something as classic as brownies could offer so much wow-factor, yet be whipped up in flash. First off, we triple the chocolate in the brownie batter with melted dark chocolate, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips, which is just an indication of where this recipe is going, right? Then we top the brownies with a sweet peanut butter filling, much like a peanut butter cup filling, and then we top it with a rich, glossy ganache and chopped up peanut butter cups. (This recipe came at the perfect time and totally solved my dozens-of-leftover-Halloween-peanut-butter-cups dilemma–not that that is typically a dilemma, but you know . . . )

Jessica’s voice rings through her easy-to-follow instructions, making this recipe, and all of the recipes in her book, feel like a day in the kitchen with your BFF, which is what I love most about it.

Here’s the recipe for these killer brownies, just to give you a taste of the awesomeness that awaits you in her book:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray.

For the brownies, add the butter and chopped chocolate to a microwave-safe bowl and microwave until melted, 30 to 60 seconds. Once the chocolate is semi-melted, stir constantly to melt the rest. Set aside and allow the mixture to cool for 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter-chocolate mixture and granulated sugar. Whisk in the eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla extract, stirring until a smooth batter form. With a large spoon, mix in the dry ingredients until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Add the batter to the baking dish. Bake until the brownies are set and no longer jiggly in the middle, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let them cool for 30 minutes.

For the peanut butter filling, stir together the melted peanut butter, powdered sugar, and coconut oil until smooth. The peanut butter will be warm and melt the coconut oil, so stir until melted. Pour the filling over the brownies, using a spatula to spread it around the top. Let cool completely and firm up, 20 minutes.

For the ganache, add the chocolate to a large bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over heat just until it bubbles around the edges. Remove the cream from the heat and pour it over the chocolate. Let the mixture stand for 30 seconds, then stir continuously until the chocolate melts and a smooth ganache comes together, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour it all over the top of the brownies, then cover it with the chopped peanut butter cups. Let the brownies sit for 30 minutes before cutting.

The brownies will stay fresh to 2 to 3 days at room temperature if covered with a layer of plastic wrap and aluminum foil. I like to keep mine in the fridge--they keep a few days longer (says Jessica).

Notes

*recipe written as printed in Seriously Delish: 150 Recipes for People Who Totally Love Food

For the ganache I used a Callebaut Semisweet Callets (54% cocoa solids) because it’s what I had in the cupboard (and they’re my favourite), so I added an extra 1/3 cup heavy cream to ensure that the ganache wasn’t too thick.

I topped the brownies with Reese’s Minis Peanut Butter Cups (I happened to have a ton after Halloween and thought they’d look kind of neat nestled into the ganache, but of course chopped full size peanut butter cups would be awesome, just as Jessica calls for it in the book.